by Jan Stryvant
"Did Prince Vises Ikke's rider give any kind of number?"
"He did not think they were over a hundred, my King. But those from Lord Tvivel's forces claimed that there were hundreds of them."
"If there were hundreds, they would have claimed thousands; cowards lie, Eldstaden, you know that. If they're claiming only 'hundreds', then I'm sure it's an exaggeration. Is Prince Vises Ikke's messenger still here?"
"Yes, my King."
"Fine. Bring him to me. I'll order Prince Vises Ikke to take whatever forces he wishes and to hunt them down. In fact, if he succeeds in this, I'll appoint him in charge of the pens and tell him he can skim off the best for himself."
"Really, my King?" Eldstaden said, his surprise clear on his demonic features.
"Of course. I cannot have these lions running around and distracting my princes and their lords when we all need to be focused on the task at hand. This will guarantee that Prince Vises Ikke gives it his all."
"Yes, my King!" Eldstaden bowed low. "With your leave, I will go gather the messenger."
"Go. Bring him to me."
King Sladd watched as his advisor ran off, thinking about what this meant. That the lions would even think they should do this made it clear to him just how desperate they must be. They must know he had the numbers to crush them, so they were resorting to simple stratagems and obvious ploys.
He had to admit that it would cause him problems, and perhaps even some difficulties. But not enough to deter him from his plans. He would go through the gateway in a few duo-daer's time, and he would wreak havoc and eat until he was full. Any damage the lions did, his underlings could deal with. Sooner or later the lions would leave; they'd have to.
And he'd be waiting for them when they did.
Minden-Tahoe Airport
Chad looked around the table as he stood up. Adam was sitting at the head of it, in Sean's position. While most of the people here knew that it was Daelyn who really called the shots, with the help of Jolene and Roberta, Adam was no longer the figurehead he'd once been. He'd earned his place at this table. But appearances required that a lion appear to be in charge while Sean was gone, so Adam sat up there and played the part.
Oak was there as usual, as was Bill and Gloria—Roxy's parents, and Sean's in-laws. Only Major Harper was here from supply today; apparently Joyce, the other major, had gotten her ass bitten last night and would be out for a few days.
Vincent Powers, their magic user liaison, was here, as were Maitland, Roloff, Deidre, Claudia, and Clyde.
What was new was, he also now had an additional two generals—General Young from the Marines, who was also a jaguar lycan, General McGuire, a mundane from the Army—and their new intelligence liaison, a civilian specialist by the name of Hogan.
"Afternoon, everyone," Chad said, looking around the room. "As I'm sure you've all seen from the intelligence memo that was delivered to us earlier this morning, thanks to Hogan here, the djevels are coming through the gateway in large numbers. We have no idea how many they're reinforcing with, but I think it's a fair guess that when the numbers drop, they'll attack."
"What are the current estimates on their numbers?" General Young asked.
"We're putting it at about a million," Chad said. "After their last two losses, I will honestly be shocked if they come at us with anything less than twice that."
"Why?"
"Because we know they have the numbers, so it would be foolish of them not to use them."
"What do our numbers look like?"
Chad took a breath and gave a short sigh. "We just lost about fifty thousand of our infantry. You see, a large group broke off last night, and headed east to Salt Lake. There's a lot of towns between here and there, and of course Salt Lake City is even bigger than Reno is. So Jack—that's Colonel Jack Kennedy—was asked to take one of his newly formed corps, the 1st Lycan Mechanized Infantry for those of you who may be curious, and make sure whatever made it to the state line was sufficiently delayed in order to give the folks in Utah time to prepare. I agreed to it and released them to handle that job last night."
"You've got a colonel leading a corps?" General McGuire said. "That's a bit unusual."
"True, but he's the best we got, and he's also the most experienced. As everyone there is a lycan, and there's a company of lions with him who have reinforced the command that Jack's in charge, I don't foresee any issues. I'd make him a general myself, but while I'm the theater commander, I don't have the power to promote officers."
"Oh, just do it. People can bitch about it afterwards when it doesn't matter," General McGuire said with an amazing amount of candor. "We got a war on; clear lines of command with other units is going to be important."
"He has a valid point," General Young agreed. "If you want things to mesh, he needs the rank for his position. Just tell him it's so. Not like anyone is going to question it when he's leading that many men."
Chad nodded. "Thank you for the advice; I'll take care of it. Now, let's have a look at the map," Chad said and walked over to the detailed map of Reno. "This is where we stand right now."
Chad then spent the next twenty minutes giving them a good overview of the defensive situation, pointing out the two weak spots, as well as going over the I-80 defensive wall. After that, he went into his plans for dealing with the next attack, and how he intended to handle the retreat back to the I-80 defensive line when the McCarran line became untenable.
"Chad, I notice you've already decided to let yourself be pushed off the McCarran line fairly early in the fight," General Young said.
Chad nodded. "We can't hold it. Those two spots have taken so much damage that once they start concentrating on them, trying to hold the line will just be pointless. We have limited resources, and at this time, the enemy doesn't. So a battle of attrition serves them, not us."
"So they really do come back after we kill them?" General Young said, sounding a little skeptical.
Adam spoke up for the first time then, "I can assure you, General, unless they are killed by a lion or a more powerful djevel, they do in fact come back. It's a problem we are attempting to resolve, however."
"Resolve? How?"
"That's a secret."
General Young just nodded and turned to look back at Chad.
"Okay," Chad said, looking around the room. "That's the plan. With the loss of the 1st Corps, that's going to make our situation even more difficult, which is another reason for not making a big stand at McCarran. We don't want them to concentrate on the east side of us, as we're weak over there now. But if we pull them in, let them breach the wall, and fight a retreat to the I-80 line, we can guarantee they won't go exploring, and hopefully whittle their numbers down significantly along the way.
"I do believe I'm up to speed with your people, General Young. But I would like to meet with you, General McGuire, after the meeting to go over what resources you have for me now."
Both generals nodded.
"I'm going to need two of your helicopters on the third," Adam said as Chad started to sit down.
"What's the mission?"
"Resupply. Sean has been able to learn the timing of the next several portals to the minute and supplied them to me. Trevor's team has been very busy causing issues behind the lines, and they're running low on certain munitions. I've already given Daelyn the list of what they need."
"So it's true, you do have teams on the other side," General McGuire said.
Adam nodded. "Sean decided to return in an effort to try and gain us some intelligence on the enemy, while seeing if we can disrupt some of their operations."
"Ah, I see."
"Now, Oak, if you could brief us on how the progress of our new base is coming along?"
"Certainly."
Betty was sitting in the motor pool helping with the paperwork. Now that she was a lycan like the rest of the soldiers here on base, they'd been more than willing to give her something to do to help out. She didn't have a lot of skills yet, she was still
young and she was learning, but the people here were grateful for the help and willing to teach her what she needed to know.
"Excuse me!" an Army captain said, coming up to the desk.
"Yes, Sir?" Betty asked, looking up at him. She could tell he was human, and she was a bit surprised that he wasn't checking her out. Most of the human men did. The only reason the lycan men didn't was because she was wearing one of Josh's shirts, and they could smell it—so they knew she wasn't single.
"I need a replacement vehicle for the general. Ours has a problem."
Betty wrinkled her nose as she suddenly caught a whiff of him. He stunk something bad. She was still getting used to her new 'senses', and smell was the one she had the most trouble with. Of course she hadn't been a jaguar lycan that long yet. She still hadn't achieved her hybrid form, and probably wouldn't for a few more weeks.
"Have any of the mechanics looked at it yet?" she asked him.
"I don't have time for mechanics!" the captain said, staring at her almost insolently. "The general's meeting is almost over, and we have to go out and inspect all the troops once he's done! He's an important man! He needs a new vehicle, and he needs it now!"
'What a dick,' her jaguar said in her head with a snort. 'Course, smelling the way he does, he probably hasn't been laid since the last ice age!'
Betty tried not to giggle; she really liked her jaguar, or her 'beast', as Josh had told her her animal side was called.
"This is no laughing matter!" the captain continued. "Are you going to get me a new vehicle? Or am I going to have to talk to your superior?"
'Oh my god, what a jerk!' Betty thought back as she grabbed a requisition form off her desk.
"Fill this out please, Captain, and I'll check with the mechanics in the motor pool and see what we have available."
"I don't have time for that!" the captain growled.
'I got this,' her jaguar said, so Betty let her reply.
"Then I don't have time for you, Captain. Rules are rules, and I can't give you a new car if you don't fill this out."
Snarling, the captain picked up the form and stalked over to the table by the wall. Sitting down in one of the chairs there, he picked up a pen and started filling it out.
'Thanks, you're a lifesaver!'
'Next time, you try it.'
Betty thought about that as she stood up and smiled. Maybe next time she would. Having her beast to back her up was definitely helping her confidence. That, and the daily training sessions Uma was giving for a lot of the girls like her who'd never had to learn to fight before.
Walking over to the side door, she opened it and went out into the repair bays attached to the office. It really was just one of the larger hangers that had been converted into a repair garage.
"Draco!" she called.
"What's up, Bet?" came from under a humvee. Walking over there, she could see his legs sticking out from underneath it as he worked on something.
"I got a captain in the office who needs a new 'vehicle'," she said with a laugh. "Apparently his general's ride broke down, and he needs a new one right away."
"Right away?" Draco asked with a snort. "Sounds like an ass."
"Well, he was a little bit rude about it when I gave him the form to fill out," Betty said with a small sigh.
"Yo! Tinker! Help Bet pick out something for Captain Asshole!" Draco said. "And take a look at whatever he drove in with. See if it really is broken."
"Got it!" Tinkerbell yelled back, waving to Betty.
"Thanks, Draco," Betty said and headed over to where Tinker was, on the far side of the hanger. Most called her Tink or Tinker, but her real name was Tinkerbell. Betty had asked her once how she'd gotten that name. Apparently Tinker had actually grown up in one of the magic user councils and been one of their lycan 'slaves'. Because of her size and pixie-like looks when she was young, one of the magic users had dubbed her that, and it had stuck.
Tinker was small, maybe all of five foot one, and definitely cute. She could also lift the front end of a Humvee over her head—she was a honey badger lycan, and several of the Navy's Seabees who were also honey badgers were courting her something fierce.
"Hi, Betty! So what did this guy drive up in?"
"Let's go outside and look," Betty replied. "He didn't say, but I don't think it'll be hard to pick out."
Walking outside, there was a Humvee parked out front that obviously hadn't been cleaned in some time from the amount of dirt and other crap caked on it.
"Somebody hasn't been taking care of their stuff," Tinker grumbled and, going over to the hood, she undid the fasteners and lifted it up. "Damn, what a mess! Go sit in it and try to start it, okay?"
Betty nodded and, going around the side, she climbed in and almost choked on the foul stench inside the thing. Turning it on, all the idiot lights came on, and when she tried to start it, nothing happened other than a clicking noise.
"The temperature gauge is pegged!" she called out to Tinker.
"Yeah, I can feel that from here. Hold on a minute…" A moment later swearing followed. Tinker was probably the rudest and crudest mechanic in the shop.
"What's wrong?" Betty asked, getting out of the driver's seat and coming around front.
"The engine's seized. Captain Idiot apparently doesn't know what a 'low oil' light means. Nobody's put oil in this thing in ages." Tinker sighed. "Well, I got something they can use; let me pull it out for ya'. And if he complains about it, tell 'em that we're not wasting a good vehicle on someone who can't be bothered to take care of their own, got that?"
Betty nodded. "Thanks, Tinker," Betty said and went back into her office.
"What took you so long!" the captain all but yelled at her as she took the form from him and, looking it over, she sat down.
"Did you know your Humvee was out of oil?" Betty asked politely.
"So what?" the captain growled.
"So if it happens again, we won't be able to replace it. We have limited resources here, Captain. Your new vehicle is being pulled up as we speak." Betty motioned towards the front window as one of Tinker's helpers pulled up outside and, leaving the engine running, hopped out and went back to the garage.
The captain just grunted and, turning around, walked out the door. Getting into the Humvee he quickly drove off.
Betty blinked and watched as he left; the Humvee Tinker had provided was ugly as sin. It had mismatched doors and several large dents. One of the rear side windows had a massive crack in it.
Shrugging, she went back to work, filing the vehicle request and dealing with the other paperwork involved in the swap. A couple of werewolves came out, pushed the one with the bad motor into the shop, and went to work on it.
After she'd gotten the repair forms and the parts forms ready, she grabbed a clipboard and went back into the 'garage' to get the list of everything that would be needed to fix the broken motor. Major Healy, the officer in charge of the motor pool, was very concerned about their inventory. He'd made it clear to Betty that they couldn't afford to run out of spares, because getting them took time.
Betty didn't mind tracking everything; she enjoyed having something to do. Nobody in the garage minded either, seeing as she was the one doing the paperwork so they didn't have to.
"So how bad is it?" Betty asked Tinker, who already had the engine out of the Humvee and in several large pieces on the floor. Betty didn't know anything about engines, other than they were heavy. But apparently not too heavy for Tinker.
"Oh, the bearings are all shot on the cams. Crank bearings too, I bet. Don't know if we'll be able to save the cams and the crank; I'll have to pull 'em out and look. The rings are probably welded to the piston sleeves, but not that's not as bad as it sounds. However, I'll need new rings and probably pistons. If we have the parts and I need to turn the crank, we can have it fixed in a couple of days. If I need a new crank and we have one in stock, probably have it done in the morning."
"That fast?" Betty said surprised.
"Well, replacing parts is easier than fixing them." Tinker grinned. "I mean, normally I'd throw the crank and cams away, but we got some new guys learning the equipment, so I'll let them see if they can fix the old ones first."
Betty nodded. "Okay, just be warned, it stinks really bad inside. That was one nasty smelling human."
"This from the recently converted?" Tinker said with a wink.
"Hey, if I smelled like that, they would have tossed me off the ranch!" Betty said with a laugh. "Now, let's go pull the parts you want for this so I can write 'em all down and order replacements."
"You got it, Betty."
#
Stewart looked up from the book he was studying as Cruz all but staggered into his quarters. It had been almost two days since the girls had dragged him off.
"So, Professor, have you decided what you want to be?"
"Those girls are deadly, you know that?" he said with a laugh and dropped into one of the open chairs in Stewart's room.
Stewart laughed. "Yeah, sex is pretty much all they were ever trained for."
"Really?" Cruz said, looking up at him in surprise.
Stewart nodded. "They were being used by a very cold-blooded spy group when Sean found them. They had their mental growth stunted to like thirteen or something, and were being used to pump minor officials for information."
"What!"
"That's not the worst of it," Stewart said with a frown.
"How does it get any worse than that?"
"They were supposed to suicide if they thought they'd been discovered. By trying to swim to Europe."
"That's cold," Cruz said, still looking shocked.
Stewart nodded. "That's why Sean had me break the mental holds on them. Doing that, however, made them associate me with the person who'd been giving them their orders."
"Which is why they call you 'The Voice'?" Cruz said, hazarding a guess.
"Yup," Stewart said as he nodded again. "Their biggest goal in life right now is getting me in bed. Their next biggest goal is getting anyone else in bed."